Fanning the flames
by Blue-with-purple-polka-dots
Summary: AU The golden dragon egg in FBM hatches. It imprints on both Aang and Zuko. Humour-ish. One-shots in chronological order mainly. Kataang/Zukaang craziness possibly though open for debate. But all dragons ship Zukaang. Especially THIS one.
1. Chapter 1

**_Fanning the flames_**

_**Genre:** Humour/Family_

_**Summary**: AU The golden dragon egg in FBM hatches. It imprints of both Aang and Zuko. Humour-ish. One-shots in chronological order mainly. Kataang plus more or less humorous Zukaang subtext._

_I have NO idea why I am doing this. _

_Oh yeah I do, for the s*** and giggles. _

_Just a humorous AU idea- what if the golden egg that Zuko and Aang found in FBM had... hatched into a dragon?_

_This results in a baby dragon imprinting on both Zuko and Aang, and a lot of humour and some cavity inducing sweetness too._

_Sitcom-ish comedy while trying to keep in the time line of the show, mostly a collection of oneshots really more than anything, you've been warned._

_**Ships?** There is some kataang, and the dragon isn't happy about that oh no, this dragon is a hard core ZUKAANG shipper. Though in terms of Zukaang its mainly the I-can't-believe-this-subtext-is-unintentional brand we have on the show really. Just a bit more than what was offered, with ample amounts of snarky Toph pointing it out. I guess you could say some real honest-to-goodness Zukaang is hinted at (from Zuko's end with an oblivious Aang) and a pissed Katara, but it's pretty VAGUE. You could argue it's just Zuko being a dork. _

_I am currently concentrating on a Monsters Inc fanfic, so any updates will be incredibly sporadic and random. Much like the plot actually (Gasp? Plot? Where?)._

--

"I can't believe this happened."

"Oh come on Zuko, it's not that bad. It's actually kind of... nice when you think about it. It... almost symbolises our... bond together." he trailed off as he glanced across the clouds panning out into the horizon, towards their destination. He acknowledged the snort which came from his friend and then nodded in agreement, no words being necessary, "Okay, that _was_ a bit cheesy, sorry about that, but it IS nice really, don't you think so Zuko?"

"Nice?! Nice?! That's what you said about my firebending before we even left! It wasn't true then, and it isn't now! This whole situation is... it's just- it's not NORMAL."

"... since when was anything in our lives normal?" Aang replied, without the slightest hint of irony or sarcasm in his voice, and Zuko was left to internally (though not externally) concede that he had a point, "And, well, now we CAN firebend." the younger of the pair continued. "So will you stop bringing that up? We did what we had to do, and okay, so now we have this... new addition to the family. But hey the more the merrier right? I've always wanted a dragon! And he's yours too! He belongs to BOTH of us now like they said! You should be excited Zuko! You're BOTH firebenders! Hey- we all are!"

"Oh yeah, wonderful" he said scathingly, "I really am looking forward to it setting me on fire... at least I'll be able to put it out..." He muttered and then raised his voice again: "But what about the WAR? We can't be fighting for our lives while having to take... this... thing with us."

"Hey, don't say things like that in front of him, you'll hurt his feelings!" the other exclaimed. "And he'll be old enough to be apart from us by then for longer anyway! He'll be able to control his fire and even fly by then!"

"Well I still think- wait- you keep saying 'he', do you _know_ if it even _is_ a boy?"

"I checked. Want to see for yourself?"

"No!"

"Okay, okay, calm down Zuko. It'll be fine. I promise. You trust me right? I trust you."

Silence resumed for what seemed like a long time after these words until the firebender broke it:

"Aang." he deadpanned, "We are far too young to be parents."

While he said this in a serious voice, the airbender simply laughed at the words, which in of themselves sounded rediculous. After the laughter subsided, Aang spoke up again when he realised Zuko wasn't joining in:

"If you want to know what I think..."

"No."

Aang sighed, it seemed, that like Toph, flying on Appa made Zuko cranky, but he continued anyway:

"If you want to know what _I_ think. I think you're just upset because they said that dragons in nature imprint on two, because dragons mate for life. And because you were the first one he saw, that means he thinks you're-"

"DON'T YOU EVEN DARE!"

-" -That you're technically the _mother_ out of the two of us." he finished. "But come on Zuko, it isn't that big of a deal anyway! It actually works out in the long run! The father is just supposed to teach him how to fly for the first time when he's ready. Apart from that our roles are not all that different! We both look after him. It's a team effort, being parents. We can do it together! I _know_ we can!"

In response, in all his royal dignity, the young Prince took his rolled up mat to his face and screamed into it with all his might.

Aang wondered if he'd been attending Sokka's 'therapy' sessions for a moment, but it didn't seem like Sokka was all that warm to Zuko yet so he dismissed the notion. He didn't get what Zuko was so worried about, he was pretty sure Zuko would make a great parent if he really tried. He just needed some encouragement, like he gave Aang back on their trip when he'd been worried about losing control.

The airbender all the same, sighed again as the small red dragon curled up against him. Appa bellowed out loud, sensing both Aang's and Zuko's frustration, this worrying the bison.

"It's okay buddy." Aang muttered to him, "It's not you, Zuko's just a bit upset today. He's had a rough time. It's not every day you become a mo- parent." He corrected himself quickly. "Let's just get home quickly okay? Yip yip!"

As the bison seemed to comply, Aang scratched the young dragons head, who yawned, showing a forked tongue and a row of very sharp teeth, also flashing amber eyes up at him. He wasn't even the size of his upper thigh and he regretted not asking someone how fast he would grow before they'd left. He certainly knew however that the animal in question would eat a lot. A lot of meat specifically. Aang wrinkled his nose at this thought. Hopefully Zuko would handle that end more, but if it came to it, he guessed he'd have to make the sacrifice and maybe even help hunt himself, because by the time the comet came, apparently he'd be eating about half of the total meat amount the rest of his friends ate combined. He couldn't expect the others just to do that for him and take on the extra work load. This little guy wasn't _their_ responsibility.

He was Zuko's and his responsibility alone. He just had to give Zuko time to accept that he decided. Very young baby dragons needed constant supervision. Perhaps in time, the others could handle it, but as the only two firebenders of the group, until the baby learned proper control, it would be a while before they could leave him in someone elses care for long periods of time at least.

"Don't you worry either kid. He likes you really." he said looking down at him, slightly unsure of his own words himself.

The dragon did not look particulary worried, and instead snuggled closer to his 'father's' lap for shelter from the pressure of the wind, and Aang placed an arm around him.

"You know, we don't have a name for you yet either" Aang frowned. The little scaled animal glanced up at him in what appeared to be interest.

"Nah, we'll figure it out later. You're not just mine after all, so it's not just my decision. I'll have to discuss it with your mom first!"

He suddenly felt a wrapped up mat collide with his head much to his surprise.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

--

_Teenage parents! Both of them boys!_

_The angst! The drama! Oh who am I kidding..._

_Yeah... Zuko's the mother. Because well, it's just funnier that way. Plus just makes more sense to me._

_Also I have a (not so secret) and teeny tiny obession with the idea of Zuko being a girl._

_Don't ask me WHY._

_--_


	2. Chapter 2

_--_

_**A/N:** More of my terrible sense of humour and my status as a fan of both kataang and zukaang! Enjoy. In which Aang is oblivious, Zuko is embarrassed/terrified of a certain water bender, Katara is jealous/paranoid, Toph is snarky and Sokka is... Sokka._

_--_

"Sooooo," Toph said with a smirk, "What you're saying is, you did your little dance and you're parents now? Man, that must have been some wild trip."

"You bet!" Aang said cheerfully, albeit while also sounding a little tired at the same time, either missing the innunedo completely or choosing to ignore it.

Zuko on the other hand flushed into a rather attractive shade of red and looked away. He knew he should have been the one who tried to explain it. Aang had even encouraged Zuko to be the one to do so, saying he could explain things better when he calmed down. Why oh why had he not taken up that offer? He would have simply said the dragon had imprinted on them and left it at that, none of this rediculous 'parent' talk. Aang was making them almost sound like a couple, though Zuko deep down felt Aang probably did not mean it to come out that way. It just seemed like however, especially when he thought about just EXPLAINING what had happened on the field trip, it would just remain ample fodder in which people would make jokes about their relationship for years to come.

Stealing the Water Tribe girls thunder wasn't really something Zuko wanted to do at all. Despite all appearances, Zuko actually valued his life.

Toph continued to smile in a way which made Zuko nervous when he finally looked back. Then she opened her mouth:"So which of you is the moth-"

"MOVING ON!" Zuko yelled, still blushing, causing the Water Tribe siblings to narrow their eyes and look at him suspiciously. Aang however merely sighed and shook his head with a small reassuring smile to the Prince as if trying to tell him it was okay. Zuko felt a little better at this, knowing at least Aang was there at the moment, and he tried his best to smile too, though he still looked uncomfortable. Still the knot of frustration did ease by a small amount that Aang was beside him. As well as this comort being due to various other reasons which seemed to jolt in the pit of his stomach and confused him on another level, at least the Water Tribe girl couldn't kill him when Aang was around.

Toph merely raised her own eyebrows and continued to smirk, starting to wonder if Zuko had accidently answered her unfinished question or not. She'd find out later.

Toph always found out eventually if she was determined enough.

Sokka rolled his eyes uninterested it seemed in Toph's own question: "So. You went to learn firebending and you got a free dragon?" He paused to ponder this revelation. "No fair!" he exclaimed "I didn't get any free stuff when I was trained!"

"You got a SPACE SWORD!" Katara snapped on edge, having been tettering upon the edge of the cliff face of sanity ever since Aang and Zuko had left. Aang had asked her gently to respect his decision to trust Zuko on this trip when she'd expressed concerns. Only minutes after they had left she had started to go crazy.

No-one had noticed the difference.

Sokka, even though he did not fully trust Zuko yet either had said that Aang had kicked Zuko's behind too many times to count so why should they even be worried? So Katara had been without an ally to complain to since everyone else did not know Zuko well enough to understand her concerns.

She desperately wanted to gain Aang's attention, in order to perhaps check him for wounds (and inflict multiple numbers of the ones she did find on a Fire Nation Prince if they were serious). In fact she was usually USED to Aang having his attention on her after he was apart from the group, even if it was just for a short amount of time. For now however, his attention instead seemed to be focused upon the dragon (who Katara had to admit, WAS pretty cute in its own strange way), not to mention however his fellow 'co-parent'.

A part of Katara was extremely annoyed at this. She wasn't sure if it was even the idea of Aang being a parent with someone else or the fact that that someone else was Zuko, but either way, she was more than a little concerned.

Sokka on the other hand immediately brightened at her words: "Oh yeah!" He suddenly whipped out the weapon in question from his back. "This is my SPACE sword." he said smugly, swipping the sword in front of Zuko who looked surprised only for a mere second at the movement. "It's my sword." Sokka said. "From space?" he prompted.

Zuko's expression however only ranged from simple indifference to mild confusion.

Sokka pouted, placing the sword back in its sheath, and crossed his arms.

"You're just jealous." he sulked looking away.

Katara shook her head as the conversation seemed to continue as if the random interruption had never happened.

She only listened half-heartedly as Aang explained (as well as prompted Zuko to help explain) what they had to do. It would perhaps mean longer or more hunting trips (to which Sokka seemed to be almost pleased over) as well as the fact that apparently, both Aang and Zuko would be spending some more time together for a little while so they could get used to him, before they'd be able to take turns if they wanted to. It would take a little more time after that before others in the group could help, if they wanted to.

"....The parents and child also have to sleep together for a little while...." Aang continued.

"Wait- WHAT?" Katara yelped snapping out of her stupor.

Aang looked slightly confused at the ouburst, but finally looked directly at her as he (with difficulty) cradled the little animal in his arms. Zuko also looked at her for a moment, but looking rather uncomfortable at her glare, he decided to scratch the dragons head instead to which the small beast almost seemed to almost purr. However the purr itself ranged from high to low at different moments, and was a sound you wouldn't expect to come from this particular creature with its appearance.

"We have to protect the little guy just like if we were in the wild." Aang continued as if by way of explanation, lightly smiling himself as he looked (almost lovingly?) at the little scaly bundle and his odd noises, "Make him feel as safe as possible. So he'll have to be sleeping with the both of us at night and everything."

Katara looked unhappy.

"It's not for long!" Zuko reassurred her as he looked up, feeling like his life expectancy was going to come down incredibly fast unless he said something. "That's what they said _anyway._ If he gets too scared or upset, he'll shoot fire everywhere- we don't really want that do we?" He looked around the group nervously. "Right?"

"Oh no, I love to wake up to my hair smelling extra crispy." Sokka said sarcastically. He then looked thoughtful and sighed. "At least this time I won't be starved and skewered by an angry mother while being stuck in a hole in the ground like the last time a cute little animal took an interest in me."

Zuko's eyebrow twitched, biting back a retort as well as almost being completely thrown by the later part of his statement at the same time.

"Are you really sure you HAVE to Aang?" Katara asked. "Won't that be uncomfortable for you?"

Aang shrugged. "Actually, not really. We would have been back a day earlier, but the Sun Warriors wanted to give us more information." Aang continued, not noticing Katara's glares. "We actually did it LAST NIGHT. I mean the bed was a little small so we ended up on the floor but hey it wasn't that bad. Right Zuko? You said so yourself."

Toph looked as if she could barely contain herself as she struggled not to laugh. Sokka looked shocked. Katara looked outraged and Zuko somehow managed to turn an even darker shade of red. He would have yelled that it wasn't like _THAT _(and it hadn't been, though Zuko had found it strangely comforting at the time and hadn't minded as much as he had seemed to have even let on... not that he'd admit that outloud or anything!) But in his own shock, he found himself unable to construct a sentence.

"I guess THAT also means you'll be sleeping outside with us from now on." Aang said thoughtfully in realisation completely oblivious it seemed to his unintended innuendo and how everyone else looked, "Unless you want me to sleep in your room... I mean I understand if you want some more privacy and-"

"He'll sleep outside with us." Katara said sounding incredibly cold.

Aang blinked at her and then looked at Zuko.

"That's fine with me." Zuko said quickly. _'Anything for a quiet life'_. He thought and glanced at the girl, _'Actually anything for me to live to see tomorrow'._

"That's great!" Aang beamed as the dragon licked him on the cheek and he laughed, patting him on the head, "Come on, I'll show you where I usually sleep."

Zuko sighed and smiled wearily going to follow him. A part of it was pure survival instinct (everything inside him was screaming to keep AWAY from the Water Tribe girl), but a part of him perhaps was even looking forward to being closer to the group. Perhaps this would mean others would warm up to him faster.

Sokka sniggered a little bit now realising that Aang hadn't meant it to come out that way as they disappeared from sight. "Man, I got to tell Haru and the others about this."

"Shut up Sokka."

"Hey what's your problem?"

"Shut up." his sister repeated.

"I think Sugar Queen's just sore because she's just realised that by sleeping next to Twinkle-toes, Sparky will be taking up HER spot."

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

--

_**A/N:** Bwahahaha. Hope you enjoyed my rediculous sense of humour and the general craziness that comes from loving the idea of the kataang/zukaang triangle. A triangle which can result in angst or humour, and is absolutely CANON. More to follow eventually. Aang is so innocent**. So if Zukaang does happen at all- don't expect any R rated smut from me I'm afraid. However you will expect some glorious (?) fluff! (Most likely of the platonic variety with oddles of subtext than romantic, but that still might change- you never know!) plus more unintended innuendo! Yay!_

_**Or is he really... gasp! Spoilers! (Maybe.)_

_In other news: ZUKAANG WEEK EVERYONE! As of March 21st-27th. Come let us celebrate in the most canon of the fanon ships in Avatar! Even if you just want to submit a friendship piece, I'm sure we'll love it! (Though of course, romance is wanted). It simply however MUST involve everyone's favourite monk and prince and their relationship being to the forefront!_

_The prompts are as follows: _

_DAY 1- Motive_

DAY 2 - Storms

DAY 3- Duty

DAY 4- Secret admirer

DAY 5- Warmth

DAY 6- Scars

DAY 7- Liquor

Visit the aangxzuko livejournal account.

_Come let us bask in the glory that is Zukaang!_


	3. Chapter 3

_--_

_**A/N:** _

_Remember: ZUKAANG WEEK. Prompts in Chapter 2 of this travesty._

_Gah. This came more as cute/friendship fluff than my bizarre/unfunny sense of humour though there is some. Ah well I tried. Need some light stuff since my Monsters Inc is going to be SRS BZNS for a little while (with the odd joke here and there, but still). So here's my relief._

_Zukaang!Subtext in the beginning (Aang is a subtext writers DREAM) and Kataang from Aang's side discussed. Amusingly, Zuko senses the chemistry between them but doesn't get the attraction on Aang's end. Plus comforting-laughing! Zuko. Hey I got to throw him a bone sometime..._

_--_

"Hold on Zuko, just hold still... just yeah... right there. This isn't uncomfortable for you is it? Tell me if it's uncomfortable and I'll start again... I don't mind. Yeah? Alright? That's it. Yeah. Not that bad huh?"

Aang beamed, looking incredibly pleased with himself as he looked down at Zuko from his position.

"It's nice isn't it little guy? Right on top of Mom?"

"Do we have to go through this EVERY night?" Zuko snapped irritably as the little dragon yawned and stretched on top of his chest, only seperated by his blanket and a small mat from the small creature, placed just in case he decided to dig in his claws at any point, "And I thought we agreed you wouldn't call me that! That the whole... 'mom' thing would be kept between _US!"_

"Sorry. But there's no-one around." Aang said in reasurrance. "And the little guy _is_ wiped out. I could do with going to bed early anyway, and well... no offence Zuko but you look like you could do with it too."

"Thanks for that." he muttered, lifting his head as much as the presence of a scaly bundle on his chest allowed and then placing it back down again, glaring at the stone ceiling as if it was responsible for his predicament.

Stupid Sun Warriors. Stupid natural dragon behaviour. Why did he have to be the pillow? Then again, he supposed he didn't want to see what Katara's reaction would have been if she'd found him on _top_ of Aang.

"Hey," Aang said putting his palms up, "Just saying is all. As a friend." And at this last word, Zuko felt his stomach flip. Or perhaps it was the amused but casual look the airbender was giving him, something weeks ago he wouldn't have dared imagine the Avatar giving him. Even though he had used the term 'friend' to describe him earlier, for some reason he had only just noticed its significance. And when he smiled too, Zuko felt like everything really was was going to be okay. Somehow, his sense of optimism was just catching.

Then Aang smiled almost cheekily: "If you need to go to bed earlier at any point in the future, hey you can use me as an excuse."

Zuko tried not to groan. Why on earth did everything he ever did with his monk suddenly seem so questionable? Zuko of course was unaware this was simply karma in action, due to his own comments in relation to hunting the Avatar causing more than one member of his crew almost choke on their spit as they tried not to laugh.

So in his mind he simply blamed Aang. He was a literal fountain of unintended innuendo . And annoyingly too adorable and at odd moments wise at the same time to stay mad at for _too _long. Not that he had noticed that. Much.

But he had to concede that despite the less than comfortable situation, he was almost glad that if he had had to have been co-parent with anyone in the group- that it was Aang. In fact when he came down to it, Aang was the only one he would have felt remotely okay with doing this with out of them all. If he had had to have done this with the Water Tribe boy... well judging from what Aang had told him, he'd probably have burned him for talking and grabbing in his sleep too much and drooling. He had the deepest suspicion that he'd have ended up as a single parent with the earthbender, and as for the waterbender...

He shuddered. The resultant mental images were too horrifying to contemplate.

"...I don't think your girlfriend would be too happy if you keep talking to me like that." Zuko muttered all the same in reply to his earlier statement with a grim smile.

"Talking to you like what? What do you mean by that? Just what are you implying?" Aang asked. "Girlfriend?"

"The waterbender, Avatar." he grunted dodging the earlier question.

"She's I don't-We're not- She's called _Katara, _my 'Prince'. Try to keep up. You know I like it better when you call me Aang."

Zuko rolled his eyes and couldn't help but notice the fact he might have been hiding something. His eyes widened is surprise as he first contemplated his theory and then said: "She isn't your girlfriend? Could have fooled me."

"Well, um, not really. I-"

Zuko, even from his position could see the young monk looked away from him in embarrassment and back to him at different moments, "I- I sort of kissed her on the day of the invasion. But-" he paused, "I- we haven't, we haven't really talked about it...I did try once but..."

At this the boy looked off into the distance, he looked confused , but most of all... a little worried.

Zuko felt a stab of annoyance regarding this. Typical girls. It didn't matter if you were in the middle in the war or if you were even the Avatar. They made things so _complicated_.

Unaware of how thse thoughts regarding the opposite gender were really the pot calling the kettle black, he decided to offer some reasurrance himself:

"Hey, don't worry about it, you'll talk eventually- if she says yes... well good for you... I guess. Though can't say I get the attraction myself. If she says no... well no big loss as far as I see it. You can do better." he said firmly. "I _know_ you can do better." he said this with the same confidence he had displayed when they'd gone to see the Masters. Even disregarding his status as the Avatar, Zuko could see he was a good kid, and any girl would be lucky to have someone like him. Just being his _friend_ made him feel a little better about himself in general. And Aang seemed to draw people. He had that kind of personality that even attracted and grew on someone as messed up as him. Odds were there would be a smarter girl out there who was worthy of him. If they survived the war anyway, he couldn't help but contemplate morbidly.

Aang however didn't look reasurred at this at all, in fact at best he looked shocked at this statement: "How can you say that? She's the greatest girl I've ever met! And I LOVE her!" he exclaimed.

Zuko's eyes widened in surprise, and if he hadn't had a sleeping dragon on his chest he would have sat up.

Aang then looked horrified at this outburst: "Oh spirits, don't tell anyone!" he said desperately "Why did I say that?! Don't tell anyone especially not SOKKA."

"Sokka?"

"Katara's _brother_." Aang snapped. "For Spirits' sake Zuko-FOR THE LAST TIME, YES THE WATER TRIBE DO HAVE NAMES AND THE ONE CALLED _SOKKA_ WOULD PROBABLY KILL ME!"

At this Zuko had to laugh, and Aang blinked at first thrown by this. At the movement this caused the dragon to wake up growling it's protests at first. Soon however he calmed down before jumping to Aang's waiting arms and giving his own rather perplexed expression at the sight of his 'mother'.

Zuko continued to snigger, placing the back of his hand aganist his forehead and brushing some of his hair away, He then sat up.

He wasn't used to hearing Zuko laugh, and in fact couldn't remember if he ever heard it in reality, but it sounded... cheerful, childish and something he didn't expect, and even though it had been at his expense, a part of Aang had to smile a little. In away it was nice to know he had caused it, and a part of him couldn't help but wonder how much laughter Zuko had had in his life before.

No matter how much or how little, Aang was simply a little relieved to hear it. Without realising it until now, a part of him had possibly wondered if Zuko could laugh at _all._

_"_Y-You." Zuko spluttered, "Are scared of THAT guy? The Avatar? He can't even BEND."

"I'll have you know Sokka is a very capable warrior- he's SMART." Aang said defensively, forgetting his surprise at the earlier laughter in the bid to defend his friend.

"No really- he is!" He yelled as Zuko's shoulders began to shake. "Stop laughing Zuko!"

"Isn't he the one I kicked in the head when I first met him?" Zuko asked, trying his best to remember.

"I couldn't say." Aang sulked.

"He had make up on at the time..."

"... actually, I think it's warrior paint." Aang pointed out.

"Whatever! You know what I mean!"

"Well yeah, I guess so, but he's learned a lot since then, AND he's really smart too."

"THAT guy?" Zuko muttered feeling rather annoyed for some reason. "The one who was poking me? HIM?"

"You know, people are SO going to warm up to you with THAT attitude." Aang snorted in rare sarcasm.

Silence resumed at this and Zuko sat up fully, crossing his legs. "Ah." he simply said in response not looking at him.

"I- I didn't mean. Sorry!" Aang cursed himself, "What is it with me? I keep saying the wrong thing today!"

There was still some response. Fearing the worst, Aang continued to speak. "Zuko-"

"Welcome to my world." Zuko said looking back at him and smiling grimly as he did so. "I ALWAYS say the wrong thing Av- Aang."

"Nice save." Aang smiled but then frowned, "But I really am-"

"Forget it. Do you have to apologise about everything?"

"I've... I've had a lot to apologise for in my life."

Zuko looked surprised at this as the boy looked at the ceiling, at that moment he seemed... so much older than twelve. At that moment he was both a man and a child in many different ways.

No doubt about it, somehow Zuko suspected, even if the Air Nomads were still around when he'd first tried to find him, he'd have somehow guessed Aang was the Avatar. Either that or someone who would one day make an excellent mentor or airbending teacher for an Avatar. Or a mentor for anyone really.

"Maybe we're not so different after all then." he however simply said in response to his earlier comment. A part of him still was wondering what Aang really meant and what he had to apologise for all the same. But he was tired, and he didn't want to poke at any old scars for the young boy at that moment either.

He glanced sleepily at the dragon, still in Aang's arms, now however looking upwards as well, as if trying to discern what on earth his 'father' was looking at.

"You know we still have to name him." Zuko said with a nod, which snapped Aang out of whatever memory he was visiting. The airbender looked down at the bundle and back at the Prince.

"Really?" Aang smiled, and Zuko felt his stomach churn. Somehow making Aang smile made him feel even better than being able to firebend again.

Damn it, he really WAS Aang's friend now.

Trying not to smile goofily at this realisation he nodded. "Well, we can't keep calling him 'the dragon' all the time." he said reasonably as he swallowed, "He needs a name, but what?"

"Well... he IS a dragon, why not a Fire Nation name?"

"Are you sure about that? I mean dragons were hunted by-"

"He's a firebender." Aang said wisely, "I'm a firebender too and I wouldn't object to a Fire Nation name even after they..." he trailed off and sighed at this and looked Zuko in the eye. He couldn't really say anymore. After all, it still hurt to talk about it.

His eyes however widened at Zuko's expression. Zuko flinched and looked away.

"I'm sorry." He said immediately before doing so. But it sounded pathetic to his ears. Aang's people had been murdered, slaughtered by his ancestors. And that was all he could say?

"_Zuko_." Aang breathed out carefully as he touched his hand, and the older boy looked at him, "It's okay. I don't blame you for... for..._ that_. You know I don't. How can I?"

"But my ancestors-"

"You CAN'T control who you're related to or what they did. You're not your family Zuko. You're just you." he said firmly. His tone resolute, almost commanding, as if that put an end to the subject completely, like he thought the notion of Zuko blaming himself for other people's mistakes was rediculous.

And maybe it was.

Aang was perhaps entirely unaware of how much those words really meant to him, or perhaps he was. It was hard to tell. Zuko bit his lip and looked away unknowing of what to say. For a few moments they simply sat in silence. Zuko didn't look at Aang during it who was only staring at him in response with a light though concerned smile, still gripping his hand.

"Kuzon."

"Huh?" Aang asked.

Zuko moved his hand away from his and looked him in the eyes. "Kuzon is a good name for him." He repeated. "It kind of fits. I mean... you know if you're so keen on us 'bonding' and everything."

Zuko felt it almost poetic in its own way. After all, Aang had mentioned a 'Kuzon' to him when he'd first become the Blue Spirit, it was representative of his first doubt at his mission. Oh he'd doubted he'd achieve its practicality before, but that had been when he'd questioned the _morality_. He'd also failed that night to follow through, and squashed the doubt in question (though not completely). Still, Zuko thought it was very apt for a dragon who belonged to both of them.

So Zuko was rather put out when Aang wrinkled his nose.

"Kuzon?"

"What? What's wrong with it?" He demanded.

"It's... just not very original."

"It's better than Lee!" Zuko defended.

"...Lee? What has that got to do with anything?"

"It's a long story. But what's wrong with Kuzon?"

"It's just I kind of used that name MYSELF once."

"Huh?"

"It's a long story."

"It's still a good name." Zuko insisted stubbornly.

"I just don't want people to think I can't think up a new name!" Aang said as if having a lack of creativity was a terrible sin.

"I'll say I came up with it and insisted. It's the truth right?" Zuko pointed out, refusing to back down.

"... I guess." Aang said thoughtfully, and the truth was, a part of him did almost like the idea in general. It did almost feel like a fitting tribute. "Okay then. Kuzon." He looked down at the dragon and smiling again. "What do you think of that buddy? Kuzon?"

The dragon looked up at him curiously, and then to Zuko.

Then with what perhaps counted as a smile it immediately jumped out of his fathers arms to land on top of his mother and started to nuzzle and lick him.

Aang began to laugh out loud as Zuko yelped, "Hey! Cut it out!" and tried in vain to get a grip just beneath his first pair of legs. The dragon continued to smile in his own strange way at the same time as he held him above him, his tongue just out of reach.

"You clearly take after your father." he muttered, looking at him.

Aang was at first quite surprised Zuko had inferred he was the mother, but then said in a mystified tone: "...Since when did I ever lick your face?"

Zuko started to laugh in a way which suggested that he'd decided that he'd given up trying to understand the world's sense of humour and then sighed.

"Just get over here."

"Huh?"

"I'm tired. It's been a long day. Let's just go to sleep."

"Okay." he said, yawning himself as Zuko lay down and the dragon managed to arrange himself back on his chest. "Of course I always KNEW I'd be the one on top if it ever came down to it." Aang smirked, and Zuko paused, wondering just how innocent the airbender _really _was for a moment. Though perhaps he meant it in terms of who would come out in top in a competition?

Being really too tired to care however, he let the comment slide, and without really thinking much on the matter, placed an arm around the boy, who rested his own head upon the part of his upper torso not taken up by Kuzon, and both of them at various different points, along with the dragon, soon fell asleep.

_--_

About an hour later that was how they were found. Toph had went to bed with a suspicious smile on her face and Sokka had simply rolled his eyes at the sight, and while they had recieved some odd looks, eventually the rest of the group had gone to sleep.

Katara however continued to stare at them, before she couldn't take it any more and moved towards them as quietly as she could.

At the movement, the dragon gave a slight growl in his sleep and Katara noticed how Aang gripped the firebenders robes tightly as she approached. She cast an eye upon the firebender. She then looked taken aback.

He was **smiling.**

They all were, including the dragon.

_--_

_Aw... So what will Katara make of this development? Trust? Paranoia? Jealousy and start an epic battle for AANG?_

_We'll see._


End file.
